O Palestinn, O Palestinn – Song
03.01.2024
Listen to the moving original song by Seth Staton Watkins called “Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine”, and let it speak to your heart. In Ireland, where he comes from, there is a long history of anti-colonial struggle, so Ireland, like Catalonia where Barcelona is, and Scotland and Wales, there is a tradition of mass support for the Palestinian people that gives depth to the song.
Go to Google or Youtube and just type in: “seth staton watkins + Palestine” and listen.
Here are the lyrics and below them, an introduction written by the musician. At the end is his list of reading material, which we, in LALIT, endorse.
In 1948, the natives were expelled
From the land of the ancestors,
their homes and cities shelled
From the traitors in Transjordan and the clandestine British demand,
by the settler Zionist army
that rampaged across the land
Oh Palestine, oh Palestine,
We hear your desperate plea
That once again across the land
Your people can be free
Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine
Your people live in fear
We demand your emancipation
From the river to the sea
In 1967, Israel did invade
To conquer and to colonize
What little had remained
The people of old Palestine
Once again their fates entwined
With the Zionist occupation
Of their homes and weary minds
Oh Palestine, oh Palestine,
We hear your desperate plea
That once again across the land
Your people can be free
Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine
Your people live in fear
We demand your emancipation
From the river to the sea
In 2023, they’ve come a final time
To destroy your homes and families
With a murderous lethal design
The bombs o’er head are falling
As our leaders continue their lies
The sky does glow and the blood it flows
As we hear the children's cries
Oh Palestine, oh Palestine,
We hear your desperate plea
That once again across the land
Your people can be free
Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine
Your people live in fear
We demand your emancipation
From the river to the sea
We stand with your emancipation
Your people will be free
[INTRO]
"You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know."
- William Wilberforce
The US once again vetoed an amendment to the UN resolution on Gaza calling for a permanent ceasefire and abstained from the vote for a neutered resolution calling for increased aid but no ceasefire.
At the time of writing (12/22/2023), 20,000+ Palestinian civilians have been martyred in Gaza over the past 77 days. In other modern conflicts, the proportion of children killed is usually around 6-8%. In Gaza, it is 40%, roughly 8,000 and counting. Many thousands more are likely dead beneath the rubble. Half the population is starving and hundreds of thousands now suffer from the spread of preventable disease. Hundreds of trucks with aid are waiting at the border as Israel prevents most from entering.
At this point, Israel has bombed virtually every corner of Gaza, including any space they have designated as a ‘safe zone’. They have captured and summarily executed, point blank, men, women, and children. Zionist settlers have already drawn up plans for beachfront properties where Palestinian homes once stood. The Israeli civilian fatalities from Oct. 7th now sit at 695 individuals (we mourn their loss) and we now have video evidence of Israeli tanks in Kibbutz Be'eri shelling Israeli homes with as many as 15 occupants still inside.
The death and destruction wrought by the IDF is unprecedented in modern times and must be unilaterally condemned. The callous disregard for Palestinian lives from the Israeli and US governments is depravity beyond comprehension. This disregard resulted in the execution of three Israeli hostages by the IDF, mistaken for Palestinian civilians, who despite having been shirtless, weaponless, and bearing clearly visible white flags, were shot and killed, one in the back as he ran away crying for help in Hebrew.
I have seen footage that I cannot unsee and I weep for the martyrs and all those still suffering. Please follow the brave journalists and reporters on the ground in Gaza for daily updates and first hand accounts of the many war crimes now attributable to the IDF. Motaz, Bisan, and Ahmed Hijazi are but a few. If you want to learn more about the history referenced in each verse, you can read the following books by Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish authors.
1. "The Hundred Years War on Palestine" by Rashid Khalidi
2. "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe
3. "The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of Gaza and the Occupied Territories" by Ilan Pappe
4. "Gaza: An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom" by Norman Finkelstein
5. "On Palestine" by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe
6. "The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine" by Miko Peled
7. "Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History" by Nur Masalha
8. "Ten Myths About Israel" by Ilan Pappe
9. "The Palestinian Laboratory" by Antony Loewenstein
10. "The Punishment of Gaza" by Gideon Levy
Finally, I reject wholeheartedly any and all forms of anti-Semitism but also recognize the basic truth that anti-Zionism does not equal anti-Semitism. There are many thousands of Jewish people around the world who are anti-Zionist, many of whom are very outspoken, and we need only listen.
CEASEFIRE NOW.
END THE APARTHEID.
FREE PALESTINE.
